{"id":2598,"date":"2026-06-20T23:34:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T23:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598"},"modified":"2026-06-20T23:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T23:34:18","slug":"trump-deepens-the-dustup-with-italys-meloni-who-says-his-unprovoked-attacks-are-senseless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598","title":{"rendered":"Trump deepens the dustup with Italy\u2019s Meloni, who says his \u2018unprovoked attacks are senseless\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>WASHINGTON<\/strong> |  President Donald Trump on Saturday lashed out at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, insisting that she asked \u201cover and over\u201d for a photo with him at the recent Group of Seven summit and criticizing what he said was Italy\u2019s lack of cooperation during the Iran war.<\/p>\n<p>The remarks deepen the spat that began this week with the Republican president\u2019s interview with an Italian broadcaster, during which Trump claimed Meloni \u201cbegged\u201d for the photo during the G7 meeting in France. Meloni has called that \u201ccompletely fabricated.\u201d The dustup led Italy\u2019s foreign minister to cancel a planned trip to the United States as Meloni\u2019s government lined up in her defense.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cItalian Prime Minister Gigiorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,\u201d Trump wrote on his social media platform while spending the weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat. He misspelled her first name in the initial post, which he later corrected.<\/p>\n<p>He continued: \u201cShe is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon (But so did NATO, for that matter!).\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Meloni soon responded, saying in a statement to Trump that \u201cthese constant, unprovoked attacks are senseless.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs for my popularity, being your friend certainly has not helped it, nor does it depend on my relationship with you. My popularity depends on my ability to defend Italy\u2019s national interest, and that is exactly what I have always done,\u201d Meloni said in a post on Instagram. She added that \u201cin any case, my popularity is none of your concern. I suggest you focus on yours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s initial comments were aired Friday on the La7 network. A correspondent had asked the president about Ukraine, but Trump raised Meloni and made the claim about the photo. Trump said he was not obliged to take the picture with her but that he felt sorry for her and agreed, La7 said. The broadcaster put a dubbed version of the conversation online, but not the original English audio.<\/p>\n<p>In his post, Trump also complained that Meloni would not allow the U.S. to use Italy\u2019s landing strips or runways during the Iran war even though the U.S. is a leader in defense spending among NATO allies. That is a long-standing complaint about the military alliance and one that Trump raised before his White House meeting Wednesday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and the NATO summit in Turkey next month.<\/p>\n<p>Italy, a key logistics hub for the U.S., declined in March to allow American bombers headed for the Middle East to use a base in Sicily without parliamentary approval. It was a decision reflecting constitutional constraints and strong domestic opposition to the war. Meloni has insisted that any use of Italian bases for offensive operations would require parliamentary backing.<\/p>\n<p>Trump vented his frustration about Meloni and on Saturday claimed that she \u201cwants to be friends again\u201d in light of the initial deal between the U.S. and Iran to end the war.<\/p>\n<p>Associated Press writer Silvia Stellacci in Rome contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2592\">Fulford\u2019s pinch 2-run double in 8th lifts Rockies past Pirates 4-3, Freeland reaches 1,000 Ks<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2594\">Trump tries to blame Reflecting Pool woes on vandalism, offering no proof at all<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2596\">Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 6, including 2 children and an Al Jazeera cameraman<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump on Saturday lashed out at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, insisting that she asked \u201cover and over\u201d for a photo with him at the recent Group of Seven summit and criticizing what he said was Italy\u2019s lack of cooperation during the Iran war. The remarks deepen the spat that began [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[45,4239,3189,4240,328,4241,400],"class_list":["post-2598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-donald-trump","tag-evelyn-hockstein","tag-friedrich-merz","tag-g7-summit","tag-giorgia-meloni","tag-italian-broadcaster","tag-nato"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Trump deepens the dustup with Italy\u2019s Meloni, who says his \u2018unprovoked attacks are senseless\u2019 - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump deepens the dustup with Italy\u2019s Meloni, who says his \u2018unprovoked attacks are senseless\u2019 - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump on Saturday lashed out at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, insisting that she asked \u201cover and over\u201d for a photo with him at the recent Group of Seven summit and criticizing what he said was Italy\u2019s lack of cooperation during the Iran war. The remarks deepen the spat that began [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-20T23:34:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2598#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2598\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\"},\"headline\":\"Trump deepens the dustup with Italy\u2019s Meloni, who says his \u2018unprovoked attacks are senseless\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T23:34:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2598\"},\"wordCount\":606,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2598#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1fe99b8666d7c367c53f282f89ec4d14.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"donald trump\",\"Evelyn Hockstein\",\"Friedrich Merz\",\"G7 Summit\",\"Giorgia Meloni\",\"Italian Broadcaster\",\"nato\"],\"articleSection\":[\"World\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2598#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2598\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2598\",\"name\":\"Trump deepens the dustup with Italy\u2019s Meloni, who says his \u2018unprovoked attacks are senseless\u2019 - Denver Moving Chronicle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2598#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2598#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1fe99b8666d7c367c53f282f89ec4d14.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T23:34:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2598#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2598\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2598#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1fe99b8666d7c367c53f282f89ec4d14.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1fe99b8666d7c367c53f282f89ec4d14.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682,\"caption\":\"U.S. President Donald Trump, left, speaks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, second left, after a group photo of G7 leaders and invited nations during the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo\\\/Thibault Camus)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2598#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump deepens the dustup with Italy\u2019s Meloni, who says his \u2018unprovoked attacks are senseless\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Denver Moving Chronicle\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump deepens the dustup with Italy\u2019s Meloni, who says his \u2018unprovoked attacks are senseless\u2019 - Denver Moving Chronicle","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump deepens the dustup with Italy\u2019s Meloni, who says his \u2018unprovoked attacks are senseless\u2019 - Denver Moving Chronicle","og_description":"WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump on Saturday lashed out at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, insisting that she asked \u201cover and over\u201d for a photo with him at the recent Group of Seven summit and criticizing what he said was Italy\u2019s lack of cooperation during the Iran war. The remarks deepen the spat that began [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598","og_site_name":"Denver Moving Chronicle","article_published_time":"2026-06-20T23:34:18+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b"},"headline":"Trump deepens the dustup with Italy\u2019s Meloni, who says his \u2018unprovoked attacks are senseless\u2019","datePublished":"2026-06-20T23:34:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598"},"wordCount":606,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1fe99b8666d7c367c53f282f89ec4d14.jpg","keywords":["donald trump","Evelyn Hockstein","Friedrich Merz","G7 Summit","Giorgia Meloni","Italian Broadcaster","nato"],"articleSection":["World"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598","url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598","name":"Trump deepens the dustup with Italy\u2019s Meloni, who says his \u2018unprovoked attacks are senseless\u2019 - Denver Moving Chronicle","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1fe99b8666d7c367c53f282f89ec4d14.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-20T23:34:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1fe99b8666d7c367c53f282f89ec4d14.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1fe99b8666d7c367c53f282f89ec4d14.jpg","width":1024,"height":682,"caption":"U.S. President Donald Trump, left, speaks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, second left, after a group photo of G7 leaders and invited nations during the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo\/Thibault Camus)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2598#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump deepens the dustup with Italy\u2019s Meloni, who says his \u2018unprovoked attacks are senseless\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/","name":"Denver Moving Chronicle","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com"],"url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}